Yea, I did. I played a very very very early build that was still better than most rallisport titles out. My complaint then was that, while you can damage your car (yay!), it takes a metric ton of damage before it becomes undrivable. This was probably tweaked quite a bit before the final build, so I imagine that might not even be a valid statement...but hey, if its the only thing I have to complain about, thats not bad at all!

I should have a review build soon and I'll try to get it churned out before E3 if I do.

Very initial impressions after a few single races and a couple online. If you liked the first one, then you should like this too. The racing is fun, graphics look great, the damage modeling and crashes are insanely cool, and overall it feels pretty polished. My only compaints are the menus, which feel a little convoluted, and the wireframes online. I much prefer to race real cars and not some things out of Tron (maybe it's the colours I dislike). Also, the music isn't all that great either.

I picked it up for $32 after trade-is and so far it seems well worth it.

Thin_J - I was watching the retail team rewards page like a hawk all day yesterday. It didn't become available until late last night. I think I was one of the first 100 people to order it. Should be here early next week.

Can you talk more about how the cars handle? That was my least favorite part of the first game - that I never felt like I had any real control over the handling, especially compared to Colin McRae where the car tuning makes a great deal of difference.

Can you talk more about how the cars handle? That was my least favorite part of the first game - that I never felt like I had any real control over the handling, especially compared to Colin McRae where the car tuning makes a great deal of difference.

Not sure you'll find it that much different. I left the cars at the default and haven't raced too much yet but it felt like you were on a greased cookie sheet.

I think the cars handle very similar to the first one, and it definitely feels a lot more arcadish than CMR4. There is a tuning section in RS2 but I haven't messed with that at all and don't know if can make things feel more realistic.

Right now I feel like CMR4 is challenging, TOCA is on the edge of your seat challenging, and RS2 is sit back on the couch and have a good time challenging.

Maybe I'll try renting the thing - if I can find a place to rent it. The first one was really frustrating - especially the ice races, I thought.

Anyway, I liked your analogy Simon. That's a helpful way to look at it.

Also, I read at IGN that there's a reset "cheat" in that you can hit the white button to reset your car and it doesn't punish your time at all, so you can essentailly reset your way to vicotory. Have you guys seen any of that online?

Bill, the ice races haven't changed much. I haven't noticed that reset cheat when playing the career or online, so not sure about that. I'll pay attention next time and see what happens. I couldn't imagine it helping you on Live since cars will be passing you by.

I'm having a great time with this, sat down last night and played through the Amateur mode. A little too easy, but I know the difficulty will ramp up quickly.

Devil: I agree that jumping between the different games that have come out recently, makes the cars feel pretty loose and a little out of control.

After about 20 minutes or so I started to get the feel for it. I recommend anyone playing the game to use the different tuning options, if you don't have the car set up right it will definitely handle poorly. A nice option is that you can save the profile of your car setup and use it with any of your cars. You still have to make minor changes between each of their set ups because naturally they all handle differently. I wish the damage model wasn't as forgiving, I kinda hate running into a wall at 85 mph and it just barely denting my hood.

Personally I feel the physics and controls in the game are a notch above the original. The xbox has been totally kicking ass with all these racing titles, I have yet to be really dissapointed. If you can't find what you like with PGR2, TOCA, RSC2 or CMR04 then you shouldn't be playing racing games on a console. I'm lovin' RSC2 for the sense of speed that you get on some of the tracks, but as far as a simulation RSC2 doesn't hold a candle to CMR04, but both are really good games in their own right.

After about 20 minutes or so I started to get the feel for it. I recommend anyone playing the game to use the different tuning options, if you don't have the car set up right it will definitely handle poorly. A nice option is that you can save the profile of your car setup and use it with any of your cars

Thanks for the tips - Any suggestions for how to get a more CMR feel with the car setup?

Reading the reviews (CG included) and the consensus is that this is more arcade and easier to control than CM04. I find it just the opposite. I think CM is much smoother and easier to handle the cars while RSC2 I find myself all over the road oversteering at almost every turn....

The game, on Pro (after a few races) is so ridiculously easy. Unless I do something stupid like get stuck in a ditch (actually happened) or between two trees (also happened), I end up winning by about 15 seconds. Moving the difficulty to the next level is better, but I can't unlock anything. Trying to find a happy medium.

I also didn't see any mention of this. Wanted to pose a question - load times. To me, these load times are too long. Taking up to a minute (estimation) to load a track. Is this unique in my experience, or is everyone else having a similar experience?

The load times are a little long I suppose. Normally I don't really feel them quite as much, because during the load time I'm setting up my car.I wish the Multiplayer section allowed you to setup the car, only time trials online :cry:

I wish you could tweak cars online - otherwise, it's not really a game of skill but a luck-fest. Offline car tweaking in Rallisport is pretty good, though, and certainly helps to control the cars better.